Mr. Tanner's Babysitter

Chapter Two

                                                                                       Payton 

             "As thrilled as I am about this opportunity, I have to know why you would ask me?"

           Trent pushed his hands into his pockets while he straightened his posture. There was something on his mind, but I was in no place to bother asking. Trent was my boss. Even if I was attracted to him, we had to keep this professional. "I like you, Payton. You seem driven to succeed, and that is something that I admire. My two boys' babysitter has recently retired. It was sudden due to some health issues she was having. I have been looking, but no one has come close to my standards until now."

           How could I be close to his standards? Not to mention, what about his wife? Could she not watch their children? This was all so confusing. I wanted to take the opportunity and run with it, but something was churning in my gut telling me that this would be a horrible idea.

           I cleared my throat and dove into the main questions I had before making my decision. "My first question would be how I would balance working here and babysitting your boys at the same time?"

           "You would be on work from home status. I will provide you with a personal laptop and phone capable of doing all the things you can do right here from inside the office. You will work when you are not watching them, of course. I would not want you getting distracted." There was some hidden twinkle in his eyes. Trent leaned over and placed both of his hands on either side of the chair I was sitting in. With him being so close to me, I could make out every sufficient detail of his face. He was even sexier up close and personal. The hardest thing to keep my eyes off of was his delicious looking lips. They parted slightly as I could feel his breath brush against my lips. "Distractions will not be a problem for you, right?"

           "No, sir. No problem with distractions." My response came out a little high pitched, but I was happy when he did not call me out on it.

           Trent backed away from me and leaned back against his desk. "Great. Onto your next question, then."

           For a moment, I forgot what my next question was. I was too focused on Trent and the way he was staring at me, waiting for me to ask my question. Why on Earth was I having this reaction to him? Yes, he was a beautiful man, but good looking men have never been a problem for me before. It has always been so easy not to let them get to me. Trent was different for some reason. "Yes, um...your wife. Will she be helping me with your two boys?"

           The way Trent's eyes shifted from mischievous to painful made me regret asking such a question. "No, my wife passed away over five years ago."

           "Oh, I am so sorry..."

           He held up his hand to stop me from going into an awkward apology. "Don't. I would rather not share something so personal when I don't need to. Any more questions you would like to ask?"

           The words tumbled out of my mouth because of how nervous I was now. "How old are your boys?"

           Instantly after asking the question, Trent's face lit up. I could tell he cared deeply for his children. "It was about time you asked. I don't think I would have hired you as their babysitter if you didn't. Jeremiah just turned eight, and Isaiah is now six. I will warn you that they can be quite the handful. They also have a hard time accepting babysitters that I have picked out for them, but something tells me that they will love you."

           "Yeah, and why is that?"

           "As I have said, I read your resume." Trent turns around toward his desk and retrieves a single piece of paper. "Hobbies include playing video games, hiking, writing, reading, roller skating, and watching movies."

           My face turned red as he listed off my hobbies. That resume was made before I started with his company. They mostly stayed the same, but I have been so focused on work that I had abandoned most of those hobbies.

           Trent offered me a ridiculously perfect smile. My god, he was elegant in everything he did. I could feel butterflies in my stomach, and a heat rose into my chest that I had not felt in a very long time. "Yes, those would be my hobbies," I chuckled. I was not laughing at my hobbies but how my body felt so close to him.

           "My home is right downtown. I live in the Garden Bay apartments, which is not too far from where you live currently. I will have my men move your belongings into my home, only the necessary items. You will have your own room and plenty of personal space when not watching over my boys. We will make sure that you feel right at home."

           "Why would I need to move in with you?" That was the one thing bugging me about this whole ordeal more than anything else. I liked having my own space, and living with him might present a whole new set of problems that I was not ready to introduce into my life.

           Trent moved over once again to his desk. He pulled out a drawer and gathered something from inside. He turned toward me, stretching his hand out. "This is the key to my place. I always keep a spare here at the office, and now it is yours. Tomorrow morning, my driver Rob, will pick you up from your home at eight sharp. I will stay with you to meet the boys but will have to leave shortly after to get to work. We will run over everything then. I will see you tomorrow morning, Payton Young. Whatever you do, do not be late."

           His words were more of a warning, though if he had already viewed my attendance, which I was sure he had, Trent would know that for five years, I have not missed a day. There was not even one day that I had been a second late for work—working as his babysitter would be no different. He held his hand out for me to shake. As our skin touched, my heart fluttered. It felt like I was being kissed all over my body with one simple touch. I left in a hurry, tripping out the door. I practically ran to the elevator. Once inside, I let out a breath I had not realized I had been holding while I was in that room with him. "Holy s**t," I said to myself as the doors closed.

           After making it to my apartment, okay, I took off my heels and slipped into some pajamas. I popped a microwavable meal in my tiny microwave and devoured it in less than ten minutes. I had not realized how hungry I was until I smelt the food fill my small one-bedroom apartment. Darkness had settled over the small town of Helen as I cuddled into my bed. This would be the last night I spent here in my cozy apartment. Tomorrow would be filled with excitement and uncertainty, but I was ready for this new change in my life. If this were what I needed to do to get one step closer to fulfilling my dream, I would make damn sure that I worked my ass off for it as if it was another day in the office. The only thing I had to do was to keep my wandering eyes off Mr. Handsome, or my plans would derail quickly. My eyes felt heavy as my head lay against my memory foam pillow. Within seconds I was drifting off to sleep as Trent invaded my dreams with his taunting smile and even more attractive physique.

            My alarm clock hummed in my ear as I stirred awake. Was it that time already? I set the alarm for six to make sure I was ready to go when Mr. Tanner's driver showed up. It was also about making myself look presentable to meet his children. In the time that I volunteered for the daycare, I had gotten quite comfortable with handling boys. They were much easier to manage than little girls. Of course, that was my personal opinion. I am sure parents with girls would disagree with me.

            I jumped out of my bed and ran straight for the shower. This would be the last time I got to take a shower in this place for a while. After taking a nice long shower, I blow-dried my hair and decided to straighten it today. I would most of the time curl my hair because it took less time, but because I wanted to impress my boss, I decided it was worth spending the extra time on my hair. My closest was filled with business suits, dresses, and skirts because that was the attire required for my job. Today was one of those days that I wished I had something a little more casual. After spending ten minutes deciding on what to wear, I finally picked out a lovely slim back dress that fell just below my knees. The sleeves were missing, so I grabbed a black cardigan to go along with my ensemble. I paced back into the bathroom and applied my dark gray eyeshadow with black eyeliner to bring out my eyes. After checking myself out in the mirror to make sure I looked okay enough, I threw on some flats just in time to hear a knock at my door.

            "Ms. Young, I will be your driver this morning," the man behind the door said as I opened it. He was an older gentleman with gray hair and as well dressed as Mr. Tanner himself.

            Rob escorted me out to the limo waiting outside my apartment building. "Whoa." I had never been in a limo before. As I climbed inside, my mouth opened wide. The outside of the limo did not have anything on how fancy it was on the inside. The leather interior was slick and seemed almost untouched. As the limo took off toward Trent's home, I began feeling nervous again. I was much more anxious now than I was meeting him. Children were more challenging to please than any adult I had ever met before. It made it that much harder when they were not your children.

            A few minutes had passed by before we came to a stop. Rob appeared at my door, holding it open for me as I stepped out. My eyes fell onto the giant building in front of me that I recognized as none other than Garden Bay. It was the most expensive apartment building I had ever seen before. You had to be somebody to get a place here. It was apparent to see why Trent would live here.

            Rob guided me to the elevator and stood beside me, giving me a wink. "Relax, honey, and you will do fine. I have worked for Mr. Tanner for some time now, and he is a great man."

            "I am sure he is," I said with a smile.

            Rob pressed the button to the penthouse, and instinctively I rolled my eyes. Of course, someone as wealthy and powerful as Trent would live in the penthouse suite. As the elevator doors pressed open, I was met with sterling grey eyes that made my heart nearly leap from my chest. I knew at that moment that I had agreed to this not only for the fate of my career in writing but also a little because of Trent.